Learn how to make this heart warming Jamaican red peas soup that is completely meatless. A delicious soup that consists of kidney beans (peas) simmered down in coconut milk with a medley of root vegetables, herb and spices.

When it comes to Caribbean food, most people think of the main entrees and fail to acknowledge our wonderful soups.

Soup is big business in the Caribbean especially on Saturdays where it's customary.

Red peas soup is full of flavour and most importantly my version is meat free/ital making it great for vegans, however meat eaters will fall in love with it too.

What is red peas soup?

In short, red peas soup is a soup made from red kidney beans (known as red peas/peas).

The peas (usually dried) are rinsed and left to soak or several hours or preferably overnight.

Then they are boiled, simmered with herbs/spices and root vegetables.

The majority of red peas soup recipes are made with meat - cowfoot, pigtails and/or stewing beef being the preferred choice along with ground provisions, seasoning, coconut milk or coconut cream

When my family made this soup as non pork eaters, we would omit the pork, in fact we didn't really use much meat at all.

Sometimes we would add beef and other times it was shredded chicken.

You could say that red peas soup is the sister to Jamaican Stew Peas because they have a very similar format, however stew peas doesn't have any ground provisions and is served with rice.

Ingredients you need

Red kidney beans - typical known as peas or red peas by Jamaicans, yes to the wider world they are kidney beans. I recommend using dried kidney beans, they make take longer to cook but are significantly cheaper and better value for money.
Coconut milk and coconut cream - I use full fat, homemade where possible because the taste is so rich and creamy and I also add a piece of coconut cream (creamed coconut) for thickness.
Ground provisions - I like to keep it simple however, with this meatless adaption you will want to use a few root vegetables of your choice i.e. sweet potato, carrots, yam, cho cho and so fourth.
Additional vegetables - garlic, scallion and onion (foundation ingredients)
Herbs and spices - because this is a meatless version additional herbs and spices are recommended to optimise the taste. I like to use a combination of onion granules, garlic granules, thyme, all purpose seasoning, pimento berries, black pepper and pink salt.
Dumplings - I use a combination of spinners, these dumpling are long and shaped like fingers and regular disc shaped ones too.
Water - pretty self-explanation, to boil the peas and cook the soup.

Recipe preparation

Red peas soup isn't very difficult to make and doesn't need any meat to make it flavoursome.

The first thing you will want to do is soak the beans. It's better to use dried beans, for reasons I've explained above.

The beans will need to be rinsed several times to rid the debris/dirt before being soaked in enough water to cover them for at least several hours or overnight.

The next day, you will need to drain off the water and rinse the beans again, just to make sure they are squeaky clean, you will notice that they are more plump too (this is normal).

When boiling the beans, this will take up to an hour, so give yourself plenty of time and by patience.

While the peas are cooking, I would advise making the dumplings so they are ready to add the pot.

You can roll them into spinners or shape into discs. I like to make both variations for most of my soup blends using my homemade gluten free flour.

It's important that the beans are tender before moving onto the next step.

A good way to determine its readiness is to scoop up a few beans with a spoon, cool them off and squash them with your fingers.

If they mash quite easily, then they are cooked thoroughly and ready for the next step.

I like to use a combination of full fat coconut milk and coconut cream and mashing some of the beans.

In my humble opinion, all three of the above contribute to a nice thick red peas soup consistency.

I don't like to go to crazy with the carbohydrates - some sweet potatoes, yam carrots and cho cho are more than enough carbs to yield a filling soup recipe.

The vegetables and dumpling need to be added once the beans are cooked, because they don't take as long to cook but at the same time, the longer they cook, the more likey they will breakdown and add to the thickness of the soup.

The dry ingredients are add along with the soup to replace the flavour that would be extracted for using meat.

Do not skip any of these ingredients as they will enhance the flavour of the soup, quit nicely.

The steps

Steps 1-6 Soaking the peas and boiling them

Wash the beans and leave to soak in water for several hours or overnight.
Discard the water and rinse the peas thoroughly.
Place the beans in a large saucepan with 9 cups of water along with the scallion, onion and garlic.
Bring to the boil, once boiled, reduce the heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook the beans until tender (this should take 45 minutes - 1 hour). Keep an eye on the water levels, you want them to be around the same amount as what you started with so if the water levels recede, replenish accordingly.

Steps 7-12 making the dumpling and spinners

As the beans cook make the dumpling by adding the flour to a bowl with the pink salt, gradually pour the water into the flour and knead into a pliable dough ball (add more water if required).
Take a small piece of the dough and roll into the palm of your hands to make spinners or flatten into small discs, repeat with the remaining dough and set aside.
Once the beans have tenderised, remove 1 cup worth of beans, mash them and return them to the pot.

Steps 13-18 adding the coconut milk and vegetables

Add the coconut milk and coconut cream (if you are using) and stir until the coconut cream has dissolved.
Add the sweet potato, yam, cho cho, carrots, dumpling and stir.
Add the seasoning - pimento berries, thyme, all purpose seasoning, onion/garlic granules and scotch bonnet.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Do a taste test and add black pepper and pink salt to taste (if you want a thick consistency use the black of a spoon to mash more beans).
Discard the scotch bonnet and thyme stems
Serve accordingly.

Notes and tips

If you want a spicy soup burst/prick the scotch bonnet before dropping it into the pot.
For best results, this soup should be served immediately and do not freeze it.
Use a stock pot that yields at least 4 quarts/3 litres to avoid the risk of any over spill.
Feel free to use whatever vegetables (as listed above) that you want to use, it's a matter of preference.
The soup may thicken some more, if you leave it to cool down or if you needs re-heating, so add a small amount of water to loosen it up as you re-heat it.
To make the dumpling, you can use my Gluten Free Flour Blend.
This is the link that you need for my Homemade All Purpose Seasoning.
Keep an eye on water levels when the beans are cooking, you don't want them to recede too much, they should be around the amount of what you started with, you MUST replenish if the water reduces too much.
For a thicker consistency of soup, I highly recommend mashing some of the beans and also some of the vegetables as the soup is cooking.

More dumpling recipes to try

More Caribbean soup recipes to try

Caribbean Callaloo Soup
Jamaican Gungo Peas Soup
Jamaican Pumpkin Soup
Caribbean Detox Soup
Jamaican Gungo Peas Soup
Sopa de Plátano Verde (Vegan Green Plantain Soup)
Caribbean Pumpkin Lentil Soup

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